That's right, a new build of Gears of Eden is heading out the door soon! And backers, this one is for you! We've been talking a lot about the upcoming Alpha 2.0 release, but we don't want to forget all of you who have been actively supporting us throughout this development process. It means the world to us and to show our appreciation, we want to provide additional updates in-between those larger, public releases. Well right now, we're getting ready to release the very first of this group: Alpha 1.5!
You may be wondering what Alpha 1.5 even is. Well, at its most basic, it is everything we've accomplished towards the goal of reaching Alpha 2.0 to this stage. This means that there have been vast improvements to... basically every system in the game. The crafting is expanded far beyond Alpha 1.0, now including a "complete" upgrade system (meaning it's complete... for now), and a wider variety of power cells for the player to make use of. It also involves the SINTER Forge for larger items that it would be unlikely for a rover to craft itself! The inventory system, and in fact the entirety of the UI, has also been overhauled to allow for a greater level of control for the player, as well a greater ease of access to its functionality. Also, of course, we've upgraded the rover itself to a model that we believe to be more in-line with the visual aesthetic of the final game.
There are also a smattering of other improvements to the gameplay experience, such as an increased supply of resources and camera functionality. But, Alpha 1.5 is still really raw and still very much a dev-version of the game. Now, if you've been following our Dev Updates, you might be wondering... what exactly does this leaves to accomplish our goals for Alpha 2.0? Not a whole lot, actually! You can see the real breakdown in our recently updated changelog, but on a functional level, 1.5 is nearly everything we want 2.0 to be. The changes that we're going to be making are primarily aimed and making the public release a more pleasant and polished one. We have some small lore additions we want to add to the experience, a relatively small (but important) change to the way Tier 1 parts work, and some additional animations to make the release just that much more immersive for you. Alpha 2.0 will smooth out many of Alpha 1.5's rough edges. We're probably going to squeeze some other bits and pieces in, but as far as the necessities go? We're practically there!
Alpha 2 is going to be a big deal for us. We want to share Gears of Eden with you as development goes on, but we also want to draw eyes to our game and help build a community of people who can be a part of this development process. This is an integral part of indie development, and as you might imagine, it's important to show something off. This means that, between now and the Alpha 2.0 release, we're also going to be working on a substantial PR push, featuring a more developed trailer and eventually leading into a Kickstarter campaign! We'll have lots of fun events and some giveaways surrounding our 2.0 launch, so stayed tuned for more information soon!
That's it for this week's Dev Update, but you know that we're going to have a lot to talk about in the coming weeks and months, so follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up! And stop by our Discord to give us your feedback and ideas for the game! I know we'd love to answer any questions you might have. We'll be streaming more Alpha 1.5 and 2.0 on Twitch, which is also a great way to hang out with us and let us know what you think. Finally, if you're interested in accessing Alpha 1.5 and future "backer only" builds, you can support Gears of Eden through Twitch, our website, or Patreon! Until next time, thank you so much for sticking with us through this wild ride and we hope you have a wonderful rest of your week.